Daffy's Stitchy Friends

Saturday, September 20, 2014

I Basted My Quilt With Sticky Plasters...

...and other random/ridiculous thoughts by a new quilter.

It takes 45 35 minutes to open 600 597 safety pins and if one is OCD you spend another 10 looking for the 3 pins you dropped into the box before opening them. I ended up buying another box of 300.

OMG I own 900 safety pins.


The person that invented this Kwik Klip tool is my hero.



One obviously needs a few different projects on the go, in different phases...it's impossible to close *that many* safety pins while bent over, even if you are pinning your quilt on a table. My back is killing me! My fingers are sore! I'm having a blast!

Here my quilt is about half-pinned. I clamped it to a big table in the basement instead of taping it to the floor. My knees were very happy about that. Note: that table is 8 foot long by 3 foot wide! Quite a bit of the sides is tucked up under the clamps.


I know you are thinking, "She said she used sticky plasters to baste her quilt...those are just quilting pins, liar!" 


No, seriously, they truly helped me finish pin basting this sucker. My finger got so sore in the spot I use to push the pins with I could not pin for days. But I was anxious to finish basting. I tried using a rubber thimble but it made it too clumsy. Ha! A sticky plaster to the rescue! Those little dot bandages worked like a charm. I could still feel the pins but I had a little cushion to help with the initial push.

Now, I am American. In real life I call these band-aids, like everyone else here. But Brits call them sticky plasters. I thought that was so much fun I had to buy a box when I was in London.


Now my quilt is basted. I can start quilting it! I've adjusted Fern's tension, put on her walking foot and loaded up a few bobbins. Then I had to run to Walmart to buy a card table to put behind Fern to support that ginormous wad of fabric & batting. 

I have discovered quilters "see" quilt patterns. Walking through the hallway of our hotel I explained to Dash the carpet was a rail fence...

Irons that shut off automatically are a pain.

Speaking of irons, Molly spent a week flatly refusing to enter my craft room after I set up the ironing board. She didn't even want to go down the hallway it made her so nervous. Border Collie theology prevailed, "If you can't beat 'em - herd 'em!" Now, I have to lock her out of the room when I iron as she tries to "herd" the spray starch.

Nothing is so frightening as being charged by a snarling sheepdog while holding a flaming hot iron. One of us will get hurt! Idiot dog also wants to herd the salad dressing bottle. Have I ever told you how bored Border Collies invent stupid games? Oh, just did.

There are stray threads everywhere. On the floor, glued to the ironing board cover with spray starch, in pockets, in the dryer, the shower and I've even found one in my dinner. Stitching ORTs are much more containable.

If I would quit blathering more stitching could be done!


Thank you for visiting my blog today!!!
xox

17 comments:

diamondc said...

I am not a quilter but look forward to seeing your finished quilt, the colors are beautiful.

Catherine

Jennifer said...

Prepping everything for quilting is definitely not fun! At least you have great table space to use. I unfortunately don't have that. I look forward to seeing your finish.

Lyn said...

Quilting is something I have wanted to learn but never have. I wish you could teach me!

Jackie's Stitches said...

There is no way I could pin baste on the floor. I've seen the method you're using (the table with clips) before and that would be my go-to method if I didn't spray baste with 505 spray. Your quilt looks fabulous and I'm really looking forward to seeing your finish!

Annie said...

What a ton of work! You are amazing. Did you ever consider spray basting?

Kaisievic said...

The quilt is looking fantastic and we call them Band Aids, too here in Oz.

Thoeria said...

Oh it does sound like you're enjoying every minute making this quilt....sore fingers and all :) It's looking lovely!

Unknown said...

Know what you mean about ORTs, I walked around yesterday with a thread hanging off the back of my hair apparently!!

My Labrador thinks he is a collie and herds us as well - he has worked out a way not to be scared of the ironing board though. It dawned on him (9 years down the line) that the iron lives in the same cupboard as his biscuits and if he braves sitting around then there is a chance of a treat! Bright as a button, daft as a brush but what would we do without them!

Vickie said...

I haven't made a large quilt in a few years. So much prep work that I am not fond of. ;) I baste with thread.

TinaTx said...

My knees won't let me baste on the floor anymore. I have a folding table I use out in the garage bit I've not tried one larger than twin size yet.
Can't wait to see the finished quilt!

moosecraft said...

lol! Love this post... thanks for the giggles! Great idea with the clamps and the table for easier basting! The agony of floor basting is why I gave up and started sending my quilts out to a long armer... I look forward to quilting my own quilts in the future now! :-) Hugs to Molly! Such a silly girl! :-)

liniecat said...

LOLOL you deserve a medal

Lindsay said...

Quilt is looking good.

I wondered how you ended up with a pack of plasters from Sainsbury's!

cerato said...

Beautiful quilt!

Unknown said...

Fabulous quilt - will be well worth the pain and effort.

As a Brit I was very amused by your Band Aid comment; we also don't use Kleenex as a generic term for paper tissues. "Hoover" for vacuum cleaners (even if they are Dysons and therefore not using a vacuum) is still very prevalent though

"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language" (Oscar Wilde)

stitcherw said...

Your quilt is going to be beautiful, fun colors and design. What a brilliant idea to use the bandaids for protection from all the pinning. Looking forward to seeing your next update.

Caitlin @ Naughts Cross Stitches said...

I hate pinning! The next time I do a quilt I'm spray basting! Or doing quilt as you go!